CSCE 613 - Principles of CMOS VLSI Design
Department Course Description
The following link will take you to the existing departmental syllabus for this course. This reflects the course content in semesters' past, and is a starting point for our revamping of the course structure, objectives, contents and expected outcomes. Namely, my emphasis is on an understanding of the theory and engineering assumptions made regarding the scaling of the "abstraction ladder", from MOS transistor models, to the switch-level (P-, N- and C-switches and their characteristics), to the level above this, where we can combine switch-level elements into combinational and sequential logic elements--the basic building blocks for higher-level VLSI systems.
613—Fundamentals
of VLSI Chip Design.
(3) (Prereq: ELEC 371) Design of VLSI circuits, including standard processes,
circuit design, layout, and CAD tools. Lecture and guided design projects.
(Note, there is no web link currently for this page on the department's web site.)
I approach this material from both a top-down and bottom-up perspective. Namely, from the standpoint of the VLSI systems designer, we make certain assumptions about the behaviors of lower levels (gate-level and below), but as component designers or library builders, we are concerned about the inner workings of behaviors and component construction and verification--such that building blocks can be available for the systems designer. Where the two realms meet is at the digital logic level--the systems design pushes downward from the systems and register-transfer levels, and the component engineer pushes up from the transistor and switch levels. Both meet at the digital logic/gate level. Therefore, I place great emphasis on the ability of electrical and computer engineering students being able to "conceptualize" a VLSI component or system at any level of abstraction in the abstraction hierarchy.
My Course Syllabus
You can either view my current course syllabus as an HTML page, or download the Acrobat PDF file. This is for the version I taught this Spring. In subsequent semesters, I expect some modification of the design tool chain, as we move towards a complete, integrated, seamless design solution set. It seems unlikely that we will be able to get from system to silicon in the course of a semester, but with FPGA technology, we will likely get to exercise some designs on prototype boards. Going the ASIC route, we would likely go back to use MOSIS for fabrication, as has been done in past semesters.
Course Materials & Resources
This class basically followed the material in the selected chapters of the text. I think this is a pretty decent text and, given that it is mostly taken by graduate students (and they tend to *not* show up for class), following the text makes it easier to keep students working in various labs with other commitments in sync with where we are--although that doesn't guarantee that they'll be able to perform when it is test time. You can check out the syllabus for the ordering and selection of sections that I cover. The supplemental slides I used in many of the lectures are provided in PDF form below. Note that most of my lecturing, when it was directly from the text, was written as notes on the blackboard. So, if you're taking this class, bring a spiral notebook and a good pen or pencil.
The Importance of This Course for Computer Engineering
I'll have something to say about this later.